Came home from a day in town, where I did not buy anything, because I have no job and no money, to find a rejection letter from a position I applied for as a receptionist. I'm apparently not quite what they were looking for. This is what comes of claiming to be a law student, instead of a law grad I guess? I was also rejected by Jackson National Life for two jobs. I'm hoping the ones I've applied for in Mt. Pleasant go better. Lansing doesn't want me.
I'm going shopping at IKEA on Friday with my mom and sister, and had to ask my dad for shopping money. I wish I had never gone to law school.
But maybe I will get a job doing something lawyery again. I'm only 27, and that degree will last for the rest of my life right?
Kiss Kiss Meow Meow,
Mariah
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
I had a Job...For about five minutes!
Since I last wrote here a few things have changed. First, I was employed. Now, I am no longer employed, but if you want the full details of that story, I'm going to be saving it for the time I get published in book form.
I took the February Bar Exam in Michigan. I passed it. I started working for a relative who has "established" his own law firm in Northern Michigan. I should never have taken the job in the first place. There was no way I would be able to meet my student loan obligations working for this guy, which he told me during my interview where he suggested I request a forbearance on my student loans. He expected me to somehow learn everything organically, and his communication skills were on par with someone who has serious autism. Not to knock the autistic, I'm sure, some of them would have made better bosses.
Everything was fine at the job until I started to take my Saturdays off. When I started the job, I worked every day but Sundays, and I typically worked at least ten hours a day. I was not paid hourly. I was paid $500 a week, no matter how much I worked. This was explained to me as a "draw against comission," however, I could possibly end up owing this employer money. I know, you're thinking what the fuck? Most used car salesmen get a better deal than this. The job also did not include any sort of benefits. Because the "firm" is up north, it was hard for me to find an apartment to rent. I had to rent a trailer in a trailer park. The park turned out to be very nice and I am glad I was able to stay there for awhile.
Anyway, I was told that I would be able to make a "comission" 40% of whatever hours I billed. When I think about this now, it's a total scam. I could work at McDonalds and have more money, health insurance (that came out of my check, but at least was offered) and a better quality of life. At McDonald's. With a law degree.
Anyway, when I stopped working the Saturday, I got a call from my employer's mother, who also worked at the firm, despite the fact that she is 76 and can't even take a coherent phone message. She basically told me I needed to work harder, and I needed to work on Saturdays. I could have weekends off in a few years. I told her I wanted to spend the weekends with my family. I was living 160 miles away from them and I was lonely. She retorted that if I worked harder, I wouldn't be lonely. I knew that my "employer" was urging her to make these comments. She was simply not smart enough to come up with this on her own.
I became seriously depressed. Just getting up int he morning was a struggle. My left hand and arm began to hurt and eventually the pointer finger and the thumb lost all feeling. I would have panic attacks at night, and sit in my bedroom on the phone with my dad, crying. i would beg my boyfriend to make the three hour drive to visit me, beg him to skip school and work, because I was so miserable and alone.
I felt trapped up there. I started looking for other jobs. I'd already quit mentally, and I spent the days leaving at 5:30 and starting my job search at noon. I flirted with the baliffs in the Courthouse and I tried to spend all my extra time in the clerks offices. I was never paid the money he said he owed me, money that was tethered to the hours I had billed. I was given a final cash payment that I will have to pay taxes on in the spring of next year. We parted on very bad terms, he thought I was deceitful and I think he was a bad employer. It was a situation that I wish I had never been placed in to begin with. I wish that I had followed my instincts when I first began to intern with this man. I felt that he was a person who did not care about his employees, would not lose sleep over his clients, and really only cared about the bottom line. My instincts were good, my fear of never being offered a lawyer job was what made me choose this. I understand that law is a business. But I don't understand working 80 hour weeks doing something you hate, making yourself and your family miserable.
I am currently unemployed and living with my dad, looking for a job in my hometown, or in Lansing. I do not regret losing that job, because it was not much of a job to begin with. It was a scam, and I was like an unwitting Amway saleswoman. I was asked to invest more in moving costs, and commuting costs (I lived forty minutes from the office) than I was paid.
I'm worried about my student debt, (100k+). I'm in forbearance and when I get a job, I will go on the income based and try to allocate as much cash as possible toward those loan payments.
I know there are a bunch of other unemployed law grads out there who probably think I am whiny and should have stuck with this job, but it was just not worth it to me. I spent more money commuting six days a week, than I was paid. I'm angry about what happened, but I just want to have a job I don't hate. I don;t think that's asking too much.
Kiss Kiss Meow Meow
Ever-so-slightly-subdued,
Mariah
I took the February Bar Exam in Michigan. I passed it. I started working for a relative who has "established" his own law firm in Northern Michigan. I should never have taken the job in the first place. There was no way I would be able to meet my student loan obligations working for this guy, which he told me during my interview where he suggested I request a forbearance on my student loans. He expected me to somehow learn everything organically, and his communication skills were on par with someone who has serious autism. Not to knock the autistic, I'm sure, some of them would have made better bosses.
Everything was fine at the job until I started to take my Saturdays off. When I started the job, I worked every day but Sundays, and I typically worked at least ten hours a day. I was not paid hourly. I was paid $500 a week, no matter how much I worked. This was explained to me as a "draw against comission," however, I could possibly end up owing this employer money. I know, you're thinking what the fuck? Most used car salesmen get a better deal than this. The job also did not include any sort of benefits. Because the "firm" is up north, it was hard for me to find an apartment to rent. I had to rent a trailer in a trailer park. The park turned out to be very nice and I am glad I was able to stay there for awhile.
Anyway, I was told that I would be able to make a "comission" 40% of whatever hours I billed. When I think about this now, it's a total scam. I could work at McDonalds and have more money, health insurance (that came out of my check, but at least was offered) and a better quality of life. At McDonald's. With a law degree.
Anyway, when I stopped working the Saturday, I got a call from my employer's mother, who also worked at the firm, despite the fact that she is 76 and can't even take a coherent phone message. She basically told me I needed to work harder, and I needed to work on Saturdays. I could have weekends off in a few years. I told her I wanted to spend the weekends with my family. I was living 160 miles away from them and I was lonely. She retorted that if I worked harder, I wouldn't be lonely. I knew that my "employer" was urging her to make these comments. She was simply not smart enough to come up with this on her own.
I became seriously depressed. Just getting up int he morning was a struggle. My left hand and arm began to hurt and eventually the pointer finger and the thumb lost all feeling. I would have panic attacks at night, and sit in my bedroom on the phone with my dad, crying. i would beg my boyfriend to make the three hour drive to visit me, beg him to skip school and work, because I was so miserable and alone.
I felt trapped up there. I started looking for other jobs. I'd already quit mentally, and I spent the days leaving at 5:30 and starting my job search at noon. I flirted with the baliffs in the Courthouse and I tried to spend all my extra time in the clerks offices. I was never paid the money he said he owed me, money that was tethered to the hours I had billed. I was given a final cash payment that I will have to pay taxes on in the spring of next year. We parted on very bad terms, he thought I was deceitful and I think he was a bad employer. It was a situation that I wish I had never been placed in to begin with. I wish that I had followed my instincts when I first began to intern with this man. I felt that he was a person who did not care about his employees, would not lose sleep over his clients, and really only cared about the bottom line. My instincts were good, my fear of never being offered a lawyer job was what made me choose this. I understand that law is a business. But I don't understand working 80 hour weeks doing something you hate, making yourself and your family miserable.
I am currently unemployed and living with my dad, looking for a job in my hometown, or in Lansing. I do not regret losing that job, because it was not much of a job to begin with. It was a scam, and I was like an unwitting Amway saleswoman. I was asked to invest more in moving costs, and commuting costs (I lived forty minutes from the office) than I was paid.
I'm worried about my student debt, (100k+). I'm in forbearance and when I get a job, I will go on the income based and try to allocate as much cash as possible toward those loan payments.
I know there are a bunch of other unemployed law grads out there who probably think I am whiny and should have stuck with this job, but it was just not worth it to me. I spent more money commuting six days a week, than I was paid. I'm angry about what happened, but I just want to have a job I don't hate. I don;t think that's asking too much.
Kiss Kiss Meow Meow
Ever-so-slightly-subdued,
Mariah
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